House of Trestles — Hotel in San Clemente

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU BOOK. DO NOT STAY HERE. I WOULD GIVE ZERO/NEGATIVE STARS IF I COULD. The website is a complete scam and the owners/workers were completely useless and unkind when our concerns were voiced. Firstly, we were coming from Canada and had our passports/belongings and when we asked if there was somewhere safe to put them/lockers (AS ADVERTISED THERE WERE) we were informed that there were none upon arrival and that we had to keep them in our room (SHARED ROOM WITH 8 PEOPLE). This was the first red flag. Secondly, the rooms. We were assigned the 'rainbow room' when we entered our room, it was a disaster and I got chills. There was garbage bags full of clothes (I took pictures and will upload if possible), and it looked like we were staying in a shelter (This is not to be offensive to individuals without housing, i am just trying to paint the realistic picture). I was supposed to store my belongings beside garbage bags full of clothes????? No way. Immediately felt unsafe. Now usually i want to give places the benefit of the doubt so we went straight to "Lo" who was working and asked if there were any all female rooms or other rooms we could stay in, but nope they were fully booked. But each room is locked with a combination so you cannot tell if it actually full or not. This leads me to location: me and my two friends booked House of Trestles expecting an '8 minute walk to beach'... no, this is false. You have to cross a major highway, get down thru the park and it is much farther than expected, you could barely see the ocean. If you don't have an electric bike or car then don't even think about staying here. Also the vibes were very much off, When we walked in the hostel was practically empty. So we did not quite understand the 'fully booked no extra lockers or rooms" situation. There were 3 people (guests) who were at a table and barely spoke to us... not the usual 'hostel ' vibe you want. When you stay in a hostel you want to meet people and mingle and share stories! THIS IS NOT THE CASE HERE. Long story short, we walked in and immediately walked out. Disappointed, disgusted and discouraged. When we called to cancel and ask for our money back we got credit which will never be used because you could not pay me to stay here. We ended up staying at a cute place called the Rodeway Inn, nothing fancy but all you need. Highly recommended them there, they were kind and understanding of our situation when we explained HOUSE OF TRESTLES IS AWFUL AND UNSAFE. Currently in the works with my credit card company to try and get my money back. OH and actually lastly they lied about their cancellation policy! Hope this was helpful! Lots of other beautiful places in San Clemente to stay, just DO...

Never have I been more let down in my entire life. We booked 4 months in advanced to stay for Ohana Fest at Dana Point. We called to let them know that our flight was delayed by a few hours and that we'd be checking ing late, and the GM told me that they had no booking on file for us. He informed me that they changed reservation systems and lost track of other reservations, but couldn't help us out anymore than offering a free 1 night stay for the night we were arriving (we originally booked for 4) and then offered no assistance after that. He basically told us good luck even though I was able to provide a booking number and email confirmations. We had to book another hotel while boarding our plane and ended up paying 4x more for a hotel over 20 miles further away since every other hotel in the area was packed for the festival, including HOT - which the GM kindly reminded me of - way to kick a guy when he's down. I have no idea why a business would change reservation systems without recording the previous bookings or AT THE VERY LEAST reaching out to guests who booked previously to let them know that they have to rebook. I work in hospitality and this is absolutely horrendous practice. The GM was even able to find my booking through the 3rd party booking company to tell me THE EXACT DATE I HAD MADE THE RESERVATION AND HOW MUCH I PAYED THROUGH THE SITE, but still couldn't help us..? It completely destroyed our plans and added a ton of unnecessary stress. Between the cost of finding a last minute place to stay and the huge increase in transportation costs, the trip cost us an additional $1,000 because of House Of Trestles' negligence. I was truly looking forward to our stay and am deeply hurt by how the situation was handled. Had I not called, what would we have done - slept in the...

If only I could give these guys more than 5 stars....honestly can't say enough about them. For a rambling man, it's a world ridden with motels that are wanting of any sense of home and often managed by employees that do well to match that sense of detatchment. Especially in Southern California. These experiences are what makes it inexplicably refreshing to come across this gem. Location is wonderful, just a short walk from the beach with an awesome bike rental shop right next door...you can easily get to where you want to go. But the facilities themselves are a vacation: beautiful artwork covers the wallspace of every room, expressing a form that is uniquely identifiable with the culture of the southwest coast. The staff (namely John, Tommy, Collin, and Dave) were extremely accomodating and friendly, providing service that was so genuine you couldn't help but call it family-like. Even late at night when I was one of the few still awake in the living room, I observed the graveyard shift worker Collin hustling silently to clean every inch of the facility and hospitably dealing with a very difficult customer at midnight. Despite her disrespectful manners, he did his best to help her facilitate reservations never once letting her get under his skin...I don't think I could have managed it. Kudos.

All the best till next time. I will definitely find my way back...